Next West Ham manager odds: Sacked Premier League boss favourite to take over with Slaven Bilic in hunt for shock return

FORMER Nottingham Forest boss Nuno Espirito Santo is the early bookies’ favourite to replace Graham Potter at West Ham.

Potter, 50, is facing the sack after West Ham suffered a third straight home derby defeat.

Crystal Palace followed Chelsea and Tottenham in leaving the London Stadium with three points this season as fans turned on Potter and the Hammers board.

Protests against the directors were held outside the ground ahead of kick-off before Potter was booed by home fans, who chanted “you’re getting sacked in the morning”.

Nuno, who was sacked by Forest owner Evangelos Marinakis last month, is the early 5/4 front-runner with talkSPORT bet.

Ironically, it was Potter’s Hammers that pushed the Portuguese towards the sack, beating his Forest side 3-0 in his final match in charge.

Former West Ham boss Slaven Bilic has also emerged as a surprise candidate and is 3/1.

The Croatian was sacked by the Hammers in 2017, and has since managed Al-Ittihad, West Brom, Beijing Gouan, Watford and most recently Al-Fateh.

Two more former Hammers follow Bilic in the market; with Gary O’Neil at 8/1 and Frank Lampard joint with ex-England boss Gareth Southgate, Edin Terzic and Kieran McKenna at 10/1.

Sean Dyche is next at 12/1, with West Ham academy graduate Michael Carrick 14/1 for the gig.

Speaking after the game, Potter appeared resigned to his fate.

Asked if he felt the support of the board, Potter said: “Yeah, I have no reason to think not but I also understand the environment and the results.

“I have no complaints at all with the support that we’ve had and the support from the supporters and everyone at the club.

“Do I believe I can turn it around? Of course, I also understand it’s tough.

“We’re in a tough situation, there’s no getting away from that. The only thing you can do is front it up, be honest with it.

“We want to do better than we are and at the moment we’re not.”

Asked about chants against him from his own fans, Potter added: “I didn’t hear anything to be honest.

“I understand frustration, people are entitled to their opinion. There’s nothing I can say.

“Everybody connected with the club feels that because the situation isn’t what we want.

“The results aren’t good, you have to face it up and you have to ensure that we’re stronger next week. It’s as simple as that.”